<text><span class="style10">hips (4 of 6)1. DevelopmentThe age of steam</span><span class="style7">With the end of the long military struggle between Britain and France in 1815, designers turned their attention to ways of improving propulsion and hulls. Mechanical means of driving ships had been talked about for centuries, but it was the invention of an efficient steam engine towards the end of the 18th century that made major improvements possible.A small paddle steamer briefly sailed on the River Saone in France in 1783, and another on the Delaware River in the USA in 1786. The first practical and commercially successful steamer, however, was the </span><span class="style19">Charlotte Dundas</span><span class="style7">, which ran on the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland in 1802. Other inventors pressed on with designs, and by 1816 there was a service running across the English Channel. In 1821 the Royal Navy ordered its first class of paddle steamers for auxiliary missions, such as towing ships of the line. Not being dependent on the strength and direction of the wind, steam tugs made movement in restricted areas easier and safer. Steam also meant that time schedules could be maintained, which was important on long voyages. In 1838 the </span><span class="style19">Sirius</span><span class="style7"> and the </span><span class="style19">Great Western</span><span class="style7"> (the latter designed by Brunel; see p. 341) crossed the Atlantic, proving that steam power on its own was also suitable for long voyages.</span></text>
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<text><span class="style10">he steam ironclad,</span><span class="style7"> HMS </span><span class="style19">Warrior, </span><span class="style7">next to an older wooden ship of the line. From the 1860s auxillary sailing rig was still carried on steam ships, but by the end of the 19th century, as steam engines became more reliable, sails were finally dispensed with.</span></text>
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<text>ΓÇó ENGINESΓÇó MODERN SHIPPINGΓÇó ARCHAIC AND CLASSICAL GREECEΓÇó THE INVASIONS (VIKINGS)ΓÇó THE VOYAGES OF DISCOVERYΓÇó EUROPEAN EMPIRES IN THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIESΓÇó THE INDUSTRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTIONSΓÇó THE REVOLUTIONARY AND NAPOLEONIC WARSΓÇó WORLD WAR IΓÇó WORLD WAR II</text>
